


Synthesis Complete

by eternalshiva



Series: Mass Effect: Kaidan x Shepard [28]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Death, F/M, Husk!Kaidan, Synthesis Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-19
Updated: 2015-12-19
Packaged: 2018-05-07 14:05:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5459129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eternalshiva/pseuds/eternalshiva
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shepard feels the rush of air escape from her lungs, a soundless scream tightens in her throat as the dragon teeth rises with Kaidan dangling at the top his hands grasping the tip helplessly, struggling defiantly but to no end.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Synthesis Complete

**Author's Note:**

> Art by artsyneurotic on Tumblr - permission to write granted by the artist.

Art by artsyneurotic

 

The spike pierces his chest - his grunt almost deafening despite the chaos around them. Shepard feels the rush of air escape from her lungs, a soundless scream tightens in her throat as the dragon teeth rises with Kaidan dangling at the top his hands grasping the tip helplessly, struggling defiantly but to no end. 

He slumps, arms limp in the air and  she knows he’s already gone. The ache under her breastbone is tangible as the rage the bubbles outwards - driving Shepard into the heat of battle with grief as their partner. 

A broken promise - couldn’t protect, couldn’t  _save_ her own lover. 

The metallic clink of change slinks by, time trickles to a standstill as Shepard makes her way up the beam - numb, broken. She doesn’t see his olive colored skin turn grey like the ash falling from the sky, she doesn’t see his warm brown eyes hollow out and fill with the white hot light of metallic blues. 

She’ll never know exactly what happens to him, she tries not to think about it when she wakes on the citadel floor surrounded by hundreds of bodies and wipes the blood from her mouth. 

She steps forward, Kaidan shudders as more tubes dip and tear at his skin, reaper tech embedding itself into his heart. No, she’ll never know.

While Shepard mourns the death of her mentor and triumphs over the Illusive man,  Kaidan’s lips pull back from his teeth as the reaper tech shreds him of his last bit of humanity, metallic tubes grow from the hole of his chest and dip down into his throat. Blue lights flicker across his skin and his specter armour breaks and sinks into his body. 

As Hackett scrambles to reach Shepard, to fire the crucible, the citadel AI shakes the Commander awake. She stands up and stares at it in the eyes - Kaidan’s hair begins to fall from his scalp; he’s more tube and tech than a soldier and Shepard is covered in more blood than flesh. His muscles fade as quickly as her determination when she hears the truth. 

His fingers twitch, the reaper heart beats once inside his chest. 

Shepard takes a step towards the green light of the crucible, tossing her pistol aside. She’s lost everything but she would give EDI and the geth the chance she would never have - to  _love_  and to  _cherish_. 

She steps at the edge of the hole, her lips tight with decision, grief still pulling at her heart and she leaps into the beam. 

Green light bursts from the Citadel and falls to earth just as Kaidan’s lidless eyes come to life. 

The spike drops down, he feels it pull out of his chest and he rolls across the ground. He reaches for his throat, his vision is odd - all green. He tries to say her name, searching the battlefield but only a grunt comes out, like that of a husk. The last thing he remembers is the spike going through him. He tries to blink, but nothing happens. 

He stands up, looking down at his gear but all he can see is the wide expanse of grey skin with green lights glowing, blinking rapidly as it dawns on him that he’s been turned into a husk but the transformation wasn’t completed. 

_Where was Shepard?_

He stumbles forward in the debris left by the rush towards the now silent beam, the husks, cannibals, marauders and brutes all stood still on the battle field, looking around them as the reaper control releases them and they regain consciousness - the memory of everything they’ve done overwhelming them. 

Some collapse, some stumble away - some remain still, looking up at the sky and the soldiers surrounding them can only stare in horror. Green glowing eyes light the night.

Kaidan looks down again, the green flash of technology covering him, he could feel Shepard inside the glow, he fell to his knees, hands curling into the rubble as he let out a unintelligible screech of grief.

_She would never know._


End file.
